The Habilis-Cat-Bat Intersection
by Tensor
Summary: Penny runs into an old flame, while planning to attend a Halloween costume party with Leonard, Howard, and Bernadette. Set at Halloween in Season 9.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N I've had this one for a couple of years. When I started, Leonard and Penny were just engaged. Now, it's set at Halloween of season 9 It will be two chapters, the second I'll probably publish it late Sunday, Early Monday.**

Chapter One

Penny was hurrying back to her car. She had finally managed to secure a visit to, and just finished a successful sales call with, an extremely busy medical office. She had been trying for a couple of months to talk to them, because the volume from this office was so high, it could even bring her a bonus. As successful as the call was, it had made her late.

She needed to get home, as Bernadette and Howard were picking her and Leonard and taking them to dinner. The dinner was going to be a planning discussion for their costumes for Zangen's Halloween costume party next Saturday. She was looking into her purse, trying to find her ticket for the parking garage, when she heard someone yell, "Penny?" She look up, then looked around. She couldn't see anyone she knew.

"Penny," came the call again. This time she thought the voice was familiar, and looked around again. She gasped as she noticed the large muscular guy walking up to her, someone she hadn't seen in years, Kurt.

"It is you," said Kurt happily. " I almost didn't recognize you with your short hair"

"Hi Kurt," Penny said casually, "how have you been?"

"Same as always," said Kurt as he flexed his bicep.

Penny tried not to look disgusted as she said, "You working?"

"Yeah," said Kurt, "I'm a towel b…er…I mean I'm a trainer at a gym in downtown LA. You still trying to be an actress."

 _You didn't work when we were together,_ thought Penny, _So you're not living off anyone now, good._ What she said was, "Actually, no, I'm pharmaceutical salesman. I have everything north of the ten, from Pasadena-Alahambra to Charter Oak, as my territory."

"You're still not using that old Rabbit, are you?" asked Kurt.

"No, I have a company car," said Penny, "I got it new last year. I'm coming up on a new one in a few months. They are also talking about moving me to another territory, a larger territory, more money."

"How'd you get into that?"

"A friend of mine recommended me for the job," said Penny.

"So, you're making big money now, huh?" asked Kurt.

Penny became guarded. "I'm doing better than I was."

"Where you living now?"

"Still in Pasadena," Penny said.

"Where?"

Penny hesitated, she didn't want him to know, as he knew where she had been living, so she said, "Listen Kurt, I have to get going. I have a company party I have to plan for, and I have to get home to get ready for that meeting."

Kurt moved up next to her, smiled and said, "Say, I could go with you to that party." His smile got bigger, "I could be your date."

Penny was annoyed. _Didn't he see the ring… Shit,_ thought Penny, _I still have it on my right hand. He doesn't know I'm married, and to Leonard. He won't like that, not that I care._

Before she could say anything, Kurt, thinking she was hesitating said, "Wait, are you seeing someone now?"

"Well, I'm ma…"

"You didn't start dating that little wimp, that lived across the hall, did you?" asked Kurt.

Penny was starting to get angry, but was hiding it.

"Yeah, what a wuss," chuckled Kurt. "I remember the last time I saw him. He tried to get me to pay you back some money I owed you, I wrote on his forehead that I owed you money."

"Wait, what?" said Penny, puzzled.

"Yeah, that last time I saw you," Kurt said. "He had come over, to tell me all about how much I owed you. How much you needed it back, cause you had car trouble, and were behind in your bills. He was being pushy about it, so finally, I just grabbed him and wrote how much I owed you on his forehead. Then, I thought, I have the money, what if I paid you back, I could get you to go out with me and we might be able to get back together…although, you never answered after the date."

Penny was now seething with anger. _Of course not you shit head, not after you almost assaulted me until I kneed you in the balls. Now you're telling me you assaulted Leonard while he was trying to help me? I've got to get him back, but how?_

Kurt must have thought she was undecided, as he tried to put his arm around her and said, "Come on Penny. What can bringing me along hurt? We were always good in bed, let's at least try again."

Penny leaned away from his arm, feeling disgusted. She was going to tell him off, when a thought occurred to her. Hiding her true feelings, she smiled and said sweetly, "Yeah, you could come to the party." She pulled a piece paper out of her purse, and wrote the location of the party down. "It's at seven, next Saturday, I may be a bit late, but you need to be there waiting for me. It's casual, so shorts, t-shirt and flip flops will be good," she thought for a second, "it'll let you show off your muscles. If you want to come, be there by then. I have another couple to pick up, along with another person, so there'll be no room in my car. But, meet me there."

Kurt looked at name of the place, then the address. "OK, I'll see you then. Maybe after the party, you can show me your apartment," he chuckled, "and then the bedroom," He said with a leering smile.

Penny shuddered. "Bye Kurt," said Penny. But she was thinking, _no fucking way you ass. you 'll never see the inside of any apartment of mine and Leonard's_. She turned and hurriedly headed for the garage. Just as she turned into the entryway, she noticed Kurt was still watching her. She shuddered, again, but waved. _How could I ever have felt anything for him._

She dug in her purse, found her ticket. While pulling it out, she noticed her left hand. She carefully removed her wedding ring from her right hand, and put it on her left. Then she took her engagement ring out of the small pocket in her purse and put that on her ring finger. _Never again,_ she thought, _they're staying on my finger, I'm not taking them off again. I don't care if it costs me sales._ Looking at them, she felt a rush of love for Leonard. She continued toward her car, and on arriving, she unlocked it, got in, and started on her way home. As she drove, she was wondering how she was going to tell Leonard.

She was still thinking about it as she climbed the stairs to 4A, finally making a decision. _I'm just not going to say anything. I don't want Leonard to be blamed for any of this._ _I want to get back at Kurt._ She felt a bit petty thinking like this. _But, Dammit, he was a jerk and cheater and…and…and…. Boy, I'm getting angry. What costume can I come up with?_

She entered the apartment, closing the door. She was happy to see Sheldon was not there. At least she didn't keep going to 4B anymore. Most of her needed personal stuff was here, in Leonard's closet, and bedroom, They had bought an additional piece of furniture, acting as an extra closet. _We have got to get out of here at some point_ , thought Penny.

She called out, "Leonard, I'm home." She didn't hear anything and tried again, "Leonard, you here?" She started back toward their bedroom and heard the shower. She walked into the bathroom and said, "Leonard?"

"Hi Penny," he said. "I'll be out in a minute, just getting my shower."

"Ok Sweetie," said Penny, "I'll be out in the kitchen."

"OK."

Penny walked out to the kitchen and grabbed a water from the refrigerator. She stood by the island, trying to think of a costume for both of them for the party. After a few minutes, Leonard came walking out from the hallway, his robe on, and towel drying his hair. He looked at Penny and said, "Your turn, we only have a half hour or so, why so late?"

"I have to get my shower and get ready," said Penny. "I'll tell you at the restaurant."

"OK, go get your shower," said Leonard.

Thirty minutes later, Penny was ready and, to Leonard, looked fabulous. _How the hell does she do that_ , thought Leonard. She was dressed casually, with her hair in a short ponytail, grey skinny jeans, and a read and blue plaid shirt. Penny noticed Leonard looking at her and smiled, "You like?"

Leonard smiled back, "Yes, I do."

Just then, there was a knock on the door, Leonard walked over and opened it, there stood Howard and Bernadette, Leonard invited them in.

"So," said Howard, "where are we going?"

"There's a cute new Italian place on Foothill Boulevard in Monrovia," said Penny. "I saw it last week."

"Sound's good to me," said Leonard. "How about your guys?" said Leonard looking Howard a Bernadette.

"It's OK with me," said Bernadette. Howard just pointed at Bernadette and nodded.

"Fine," said Penny, "let's go."

They all walked down the stairs, and out to Penny's car.

They had been there for about a half an hour. The waitress had taken their order and right now, they were all drinking their wine, waiting for their food. Penny and Bernadette talking about work, Howard and Leonard doing the same. Suddenly Leonard said, "By the way, why were you late?"

Penny thought quickly, "A couple of reasons. I ran late with the sales call, there was a lot to go over and discuss." She turned to Bernadette, "I finally got into that big office in Azusa"

"Really?" said Bernadette. "Dan is going to be really happy about that."

"Yeah, I know," said Penny. "So will I, with that big of an office, I should get a bonus out of it. She paused for a second, and looked over at Leonard. Finally, she said, "I also ran into Kurt."

Leonard frowned, "Kurt? Big Kurt? What did he say?"

"Nothing really," said Penny. "He was asking how things were. I asked him the same. He's still a loser. Then he hit on me, I shut him down, then I came home."

"He hit on you?"

"Yes, but I shut him down," said Penny. "You don't have to worry."

"Who's Kurt?" asked Bernadette, looking at Howard.

"You know Glenn?" said Howard.

"Yeah, what about him," said Bernadette.

"Kurt is Penny's Glenn," said Howard, "they are about the same size."

"But, Glenn is much smarter and probably a lot nicer. Kurt is an ex of mine," said Penny. "He's an ass, but it took me catching him cheating, to get me to move out. I was living with him before I moved into my apartment, across from Leonard and Sheldon."

Penny, not wanting to continue down this path said, "OK, what are we doing for costumes".

Leonard spoke up, "I was thinking of us going as Luke and Leia."

Howard looked puzzled, "Wouldn't that be a little weird? You know, they're brother and sister."

"Yes, I know, they're brother and sister" said Leonard. "It's a costume party, so they're costumes."

"What are you guys thinking of going as?" asked Penny.

Bernadette, sneaking a glance at Howard said, "Howard suggested we go as Batman and Batgirl."

"That's a great idea," said Penny excitedly. "You guys will look great together."

"Well…" began Howard

"Yeah, I can see that," said Leonard "Are you going to use that Batman outfit you wore to Penny's party eight years ago?"

"Yes, Leonard, I still have that costume, and yes, I'd be using it," said Howard. Turning to Bernadette, he said, "Told ya."

"Yeah, yeah," said Bernadette in resignation, "we'll do it."

"What's going on?" said Penny in puzzlement.

"Well," said Howard, "after I suggested it, Bernie wasn't happy with it. 'Too superheroey' she said. We were at kind of a standoff, so I suggested we let you guys decide. If you liked it, we'd go as Batman and Batgirl, if you didn't, we go as our second choice."

"Which was?" asked Leonard.

"We didn't really decide," said Howard. "It was either go as two different R2D2s, or maybe the Smurfs again."

"It would have had to have been the R2D2s," said Bernadette, "I'm not painting that much of myself again."

Penny and Leonard both chuckled, looked at each other and nodded. Penny said, "Batman and Batgirl".

"OK. How about you guys," said Bernadette.

"I'm not sure," said Leonard. "We could always go as Einstein and the sexy cop again."

"No," said Penny.

Leonard turned to her, "What?"

"I'm thinking of something else," said Penny.

"What are you thinking of?" asked Leonard.

"Ummmm," Penny paused. She hadn't thought this through and really didn't have an idea.

"Ummmm?" said Leonard. "You mean you're thinking of something else? What is it?"

Suddenly, the perfect costumes, for the situation popped into her mind, "How about we use the costumes we wore at my first Halloween party? You go as a hobbit, I'll go as a cat. After all, Howard will be wearing the same thing."

Leonard looked at Penny in puzzlement. Howard's mouth dropped open, "You mean the fuzzy little black skirt, and that fuzzy crop top, with ears and tail? Wow, that was really hot, I mean…"

"Down boy," growled Bernadette.

"Jeez, Howard," said Leonard.

Penny was looking at him mock horror.

"Sorry," mumbled Howard, looking down.

Penny couldn't keep it in any longer and laughed, "Yeah, that outfit."

Leonard still looked uncertain, "Why would you want us to wear those?"

"I don't know," said Penny. "I just thought you were kinda cute in your outfit. I really liked my costume, but I never got a chance to wear it again, so I just thought we should wear them."

Leonard shook his head, "OK, if that's what you want."

"Yeah," said Penny, "it's what I want."

Leonard nodded, then turned back to Howard.

Penny was thinking, _Kurt probably won't even remember, but I'll know. It's another way to stick it to him that I'm with Leonard._ She turned back to Bernadette, trying to catch up on the gossip at the main office.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N Heheheh, it was interesting seeing the concerns in the reviews (Thank you to all that reviewed). All but one of the concerns were already address in this chapter. Whether or not I had addressed them successfully, is something you'll have to decide.** **Interestingly, "The Financial Permeability" was on tonight, on my local channel.**

Chapter 2

Over the next few days, Leonard worked on his costume after work and into the evenings. It had been a while since he wore it, and it had some minor tears that needed to be fixed. He also had to let it out a bit, as both the pants and the top were a bit tighter since he last wore it, _a few pounds here and there can do that, I guess_ , he thought. _Maybe I should start doing some workouts with Penny._

Penny was bit surprised by hers. Not that it still fit, she worked hard on keeping her body toned with her yoga and other exercises. She dug out an old picture. Looking at it, she realized her abs back then weren't very defined. But, she wasn't trying back then, she didn't have to try to keep her figure. Now, after ten years and actually having to work out, to keep trim, the costume would show off the definition of her abs, showing off all the hard work.

No, what shocked her, was how little of a costume there was. She hadn't worn something this short, and this skimpy in a while. While her arms were covered, the crop top showed her entire stomach, and the skirt was almost a foot above her knees. She was now wondering if it was appropriate for the company party, and wondered if she should wear it.

She thought about it for a couple of days. Her wanting to show off for Leonard, and to show off to Kurt, conflicting with her desire to be mature, a good employee. After two days, she decided that her desire to show off was stronger than her desire to be mature. _Like that would surprise anyone I know,_ thought Penny, with a chuckle.

She had also been feeling guilty about not telling Leonard what had happened with Kurt and that she had invited him. By Wednesday, it was overwhelming, so over dinner she said, "Leonard, I have to tell you something…about when I saw Kurt the other day."

"What is it?" asked Leonard.

"After talking to him, I was so pissed off," she said, "I told him to come to the party, Saturday."

"What? Why?"

"Well, he was being an ass," said Penny. "Just the way he acted reminded me of his cheating and how much he messed up my mind. He was also making fun of you, putting you down and …anyway, to get back at him, I told him where it was going to be, and that shorts, a t-shirt and flip-flops would be good."

Leonard chuckled, "I'm not sure he's smart enough to get the insult."

"That's not what's bothering me," said Penny. "I didn't want to get you involved, in case he took it out on you, but now, I don't know what's going to happen."

"Well, there's nothing we can do now anyway, is there?" said Leonard,

Penny shook her head.

"Then, we hope for the best," said Leonard. "If we him, we could just say it was a mistake, and apologize."

"I don't know if I can do that," said Penny.

"Why not?" asked Leonard.

"There's something else," said Penny.

"More?"

"Yeah," said Penny, "I had just left the sales call, and he caught me before I could put my rings back on, and, like I said, I didn't want you to get involved so I didn't mention being married. Now he thinks I'm not married or even dating anyone." She lowered her voice, "And I didn't clear it up, when I had the chance."

"Penny," said Leonard as he shook his head, sounding frustrated. "How can you do something like this? How are we going…"

"No," said Penny forcefully, "you aren't doing anything. I don't want you involved in this. This is between me and Kurt."

"But, Penny, what ar…"

"No, Leonard," said Penny forcefully, "I made the mess, I have to clean it up."

Leonard sighed. He wanted to help, but he knew that when Penny got some kind of idea into her head, it was better to just let her go with it, and pray a problem didn't come out of it. He just hoped he would be of some kind of help if Penny needed him. He nodded.

"I'm sorry Leonard," said Penny. "I didn't think about it, I just wanted to get back at him."

"Like I said, all we can do is go with it," said Leonard, "and hope everything works out."

She spent the rest of the night pulling out the different pieces of her costume, then she spent Thursday night, getting her tail just right, straightening out her "Whiskers" along with redoing her cat ears, then putting them on another hair band. Friday night, they put the finishing touches on their costumes, tried them on, then they both ironed them and hung them up carefully, and spent the rest of the night watching reruns of "Sex and the City".

Saturday morning they spent shopping for vegetables at a local famers market. That afternoon Leonard analyzed some data he had gotten from the previous week, while Penny was trying to read up on some new drugs she would now be selling, starting the following week.

They had a light dinner, salad and bread sticks, as there would be "finger food", but nothing heavy at the party. After cleaning up, they started preparing. They both got showers, with Leonard shaving, then they put on their costumes. They had just finished when they heard a knock on the door, it was Bernadette and Howard

Howard, Leonard and Penny had all seen the others costumes before. So Leonard and Penny concentrated on Bernadette's. It was skin tight, something that Bernadette didn't usually wear, and it was somewhat surprising to see how curvy Bernadette was in that costume. The costume looked like it included a mask, boots, a cape, and gloves, with hard little plastic spikes on the knuckles.

"Doesn't batgirl have a hood, like Batman?" asked Penny.

"Since she has blond hair," said Howard, "we decided to go with the Alicia Silverstone look, I drew the mask on her."

Leonard and Penny looked more closely, as Bernadette turned her head, and now they could see it was drawn on. "What did you use?" asked Leonard.

"I bought some costume paint, looks good huh?" said Howard.

Leonard and Penny agreed as it really did look good.

"All right," said Penny. "Everyone ready to leave?" She looked around and everyone nodded, so they all left, walking down to Bernadette's car, which Howard was driving, and left for the party.

They went East, on Colorado Boulevard. Penny was giving Howard a hard time for not using the 210, which was off to their left. A few minutes later, Howard was returning the favor as the traffic on Colorado Boulevard was light, for a Saturday, and they could see the 210 backed up. Penny was pouting about the snarky comments Howard was giving her, until Howard relented and explained he was using his traffic app, which had told him the 210 was backed up. Five minutes later, they were pulling up to the Residence Inn, located in Arcadia, just east of Santa Anita Park.

Although the lot was pretty full, Howard found a spot relatively close to one set of doors, parked, got out, and headed toward the entrance. Penny was looking around, trying to find Kurt. She didn't see him by the time they got to the door, and entered. They found the entrance to the ballroom was not at that door, so they followed the signs that had been put along the hallways.

It was when they arrived at the ballroom that Penny found Kurt. He was arguing with the woman at the door. As they approached, Penny couldn't hear the woman, but she could hear him. "I'm telling you, I was told to be here at seven, to meet a friend. She invited me. What do you mean I don't have a costume. She told me shorts, t-shirt and flip-flop were good. Who? It was a girl I used to go out with, her name is…"

"Kurt, over here," said Penny

Kurt hurried over, looking angry. "What are you doing in a costume?" asked Kurt. "You told me it was casual."

"Yeah," said Penny casually, "About that…By the way, you wouldn't have found me by giving my old name."

"Old name?" said Kurt. "What are you talking about?"

"My name is Penny Hofstadter, now," said Penny. "I'm married." She showed off her rings.

"Married?" said Kurt. "Since when? You weren't wearing a ring the other day," he looked around, "is your husband here?"

"Yes, he is," said Penny, "I married Leonard."

"Leonard?" said Kurt. "Who?"

"Leonard," said Penny, pulling Leonard to her side.

"Oh, yeah, the little elf, or gnome, or whatever he is, who was at your party."

"He's a Hobbit," said Penny, "he also went to get my TV and," her voice rose a little, "and he went to get my money for me, when you wrote on his head."

Kurt was looking at Leonard, Leonard's head spun around and he was looking at Penny, a shocked look on his face.

"This guy?" said Kurt. "I picked him up, there's nothing to him. Why would you marry someone like this?" Kurt was shaking his head, "Yeah, I wrote on his head. I only needed one arm to hold him. Just like I needed only one arm to hold him when I took his pants off. At least the other guy put up something of a struggle, although his wasn't much better than this wimp, here," said Kurt, pointing at Leonard.

Bernadette looked at Howard, in puzzlement. She saw Howard mouth "Later" to her.

"Look at him," said Kurt. "Short, weak, his hair is a mess, his face is goofy looking and he's got those damn glasses. If that's the kind of guy you want, I'm leaving"

Kurt spun and walked away, he was headed down an empty hallway, away from the ballroom. Penny had been watching Leonard and saw his face fall. Dammit, thought Penny, I should have known Kurt would do something like this. I'm the one causing Leonard the pain. She was getting more and more angry, mostly at herself, but was determined to take it out on Kurt. Seeing him turn the corner, she ran after him and finally caught up with him. She stepped in front of him, and started yelling."

"Why don't you just go to hell," said Penny, her face set in anger

"Why don't you," yelled Kurt. "You're the one that tricked me into coming here, you bitch."

Leonard, Howard, and Bernadette came up behind Kurt. Leonard could see how angry she was as he had seen that look directed at him a few times. Kurt shot a look at them, decided they weren't any kind of danger to him, and turned back to Penny.

Penny continued in a loud voice, "It took a lot of time for me to get over the bullshit you laid on me, with your cheating. It caused me to breakup with Leonard when he told me he loved me, because I was so scared of getting the same thing from him. It took a lot of time for me to accept his proposals, again because I was afraid of what I got from you. So go on, leave, I'm married to him, and I love him."

"Oh, you're married to him," said Kurt sarcastically. "You didn't seem too proud of that the other day. You didn't bother telling me, and does he know about you not wearing your rings?"

Kurt looked over at Leonard triumphantly, until he saw Leonard nodding.

"Yes," said Leonard nodding. "I know. We talked about it. She thinks it makes sales easier if they think she is single. She's been doing this for less than a year, and is now the number three sales person in the company, so she obviously knows what she's doing."

"See, I told him. Not as soon as I should have, I admit" said Penny, looking at Leonard sideways. "but I did tell him. He trusts me. He supports me, he doesn't live off me, and he has a great job at a top university, he's not a towel boy at some dump gym."

"Yeah," said Kurt, "but, he's still a wimp. Remember, I took off his pants and wrote on his head…what a useless piece of shit…not even a man."

"Yeah," said Penny coldly, "those are both examples where he's demonstrated more courage than you ever will. He went there, both times, like a MAN, to help me, thinking he could get hurt, but he did it because he loved me."

"Yeah?" countered Kurt, "Well, he's still pussy whipped. I wouldn't let my woman take off her rings. If my woman did something like that, playing like she's single, I'd know how to take care of her." He raised his hand, looking as if he was going to slap Penny.

Leonard was moving in a flash, but Penny was closer. She brought her knee up, in between Kurt's legs, intending to do some major damage to his crotch. But, she wasn't quite tall enough and her knee only jolted Kurt, causing him to stagger back.

Leonard and Penny stopped. Kurt spun, trying to regain his balance, and almost ran into Bernadette. They were in a semi-circle around him, with him standing near Bernadette. Looking at all four of them, he sneered at Penny, the watched as three of them took a step back "Yeah, I can take all of you," Kurt said, "but you'll tell the police I attacked you, and it ain't worth it."

He turned his attention back to Bernadette. Looking her over, he smiled and said, "Well, you look like you're interested. You didn't back up. Forget Penny, this is a cute, pint sized woman. How 'bout it honey? What say you and me head off for a good time tonight?"

Bernadette looked at him in disgust. "Not with a jerk like you," she said, her voice sounding like Howard's mother, "I'm married to a wonderful guy, not an asshole." She pulled Howard in close to her.

Kurt shook his head, "What is the problem with all you woman. Going out with these pussies, you don't know what a real man is. Look at him," he said, pointing at Howard, "Skinny, small, and that idiotic hair cut, and that huge nose. Maybe I should just break that big nose…" He started to turn toward Howard.

Bernadette didn't remember thinking about it. Penny saw Bernadette ball her right hand into a fist, and pull her arm back, until her fist was behind her. Kurt was reaching for Howard, and started to say something, but he never got it out.

Bernadette brought her arm forward, in an uppercut, her fist catching Kurt in the crotch. His left testicle was crushed between Bernadette's fist, and the area just behind his scrotum. The effect was accentuated by the raised plastic spikes on her glove's knuckles.

Kurt screamed in pain and dropped to the floor. Falling into a fetal position, his hands cupped around his crotch. He was now groaning in agony. Bernadette looked around quickly, and sighed. At least there was no one else in the hallway, although it really didn't matter, as Kurt had threatened Howard.

Bernadette spoke up, "C'mon, let's get to the party." She grabbed Howard and started walking toward the door.

Penny wasn't quite done with Kurt. Standing over him, she said sneering, "Don't ever, try to talk to me again. Just get out of here, it was self defense." Penny actually chuckled, "Besides, I don't think you want it to get out that you were taken out by a GIRL who isn't even five foot high." With that, Penny took Leonard's hand, "C'mon sweety." They followed Howard and Bernadette as they walked away from Kurt.

Reaching the entrance, they all checked in. The woman asked Penny what that guy was doing, and she simply said he was a jerk she used to know, trying to cause trouble. The four of them were cleared through, and they went to the bar, got drinks, and found a table.

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds, then Penny, looking embarrassed, spoke to Howard and Bernadette, "I'm sorry you guys." She then turned to Leonard. "I shouldn't have invited and tried to embarrass him, here. But, he was such an ass, like always, and after he mention you going to get my money, I just couldn't hold back. I'm so sorry. Why didn't you ever tell me that?"

Now it was Leonard's turn to look embarrassed. "I was just trying to get him to do the right thing."

Penny sighed. "Yeah, that probably hurt, when I told you I was going out with him. But, you didn't tell me. If I would have know it was you pushing him give the money back, I would have never gone out with him. Is there anything else you've done to help me, that you haven't told me about?"

"No, I think you know it all now," said Leonard. "Food, your rent, light bill, the car…but were married now, we're supposed to help each other."

"I just wish you would have told me," said Penny. "I owed him all of that, if not more. By the way, I ended up kneeing him in the groin that time, after he paid me. He tried to make a move, but he was crouched down, and my knee caught him. This time I missed, as he was standing up straight."

Howard spoke up, "But Bernie got him good."

Penny laughed, "Yeah, she did."

Bernadette looked embarrassed and said, "Look, I'm not proud about that, can we just forget that?"

Penny was smiling, "I don't think I'm ever going to forget that."

Howard laughed, "I'm not going to forget it either. Between you too, who needs protection.

Bernadette dropped her head and put her hand on her head, hiding her face.

Penny look at Leonard and said, "I'm really sorry Leonard, and there's something else I want to tell you. I'm not taking my rings off again. It doesn't matter if it makes a difference in my sales, I want people to know that I'm married to you."

"OK, but we talked about it, it's fine."

"Nope," said Penny. "I'm going to wear them. I love you."

Leonard smiled, "I love you too."

 **A/N Thanks to all that read. Will be working on the Lenny trip to Nebraska in a couple of weeks (real life will intrude). To those who have asked, I'm looking to finish "The Wedding Reconsideration" and doing bits and pieces of a rather big story.**


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